How to help children sleep well – The advice of pediatricians

To help the children to have a good sleep it is necessary to start from the first months. Advice from the Conference of Pediatricians.

A good sleep is the basis of good health. But many of us can be parents of children who struggle to sleep, or who do not sleep, or who awaken during sleep.

There are children who have sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking or who suffer from insomnia.

In popular tradition, it is thought that the non-sleep of the first months is a normal fact. Which will pass.

According to the opinion of pediatricians, good sleep must be set up from the first months of life of the child.

A good sleep is the result of a series of adaptations both by the child to their new external environment, both by parents and pediatricians, who must make every effort to understand and adapt to the child’s rhythms.

The pediatricians, on the occasion of this conference, organized by the Federation of Pediatricians, have prepared a set of tips for parents, small indications to help children sleep well …

How to help children to have a good sleep

1) Construct with the child a ritual path that precedes the asleep: a little song, a fairy tale, but also the choice of pajamas or an object to take to bed.

2) It is important to put the child to sleep in their room and in their bed. Avoid letting it fall asleep in your arms or in other places; associate your bed with sleep. Otherwise, when he wakes up, the child will find themselves in a place he does not recognize and will want to return to the parent’s arms to go back to sleep.

5) When the baby cries reassure them with a caress, check for any ”need” (hunger, thirst, diaper change, etc ..).

6) Avoid turning on the lights and speak in a low tone.

7) Try to resist, do not run in their room as soon as he cries.

8) The environment where the child is sleeping must be quiet, as quiet as possible and dimly lit with a comfortable temperature (around 20 * C).

9) The child must sleep belly up.

10) Do not smoke at home, passive smoking is harmful and it is important to avoid covering it too much. These measures are important for preventing SIDS (Death Syndrome in Crib).

11) Do not use drugs or natural remedies to induce sleep, they often do not solve the problem and can give a paradoxical effect: excite instead of calming down. They are used only under medical supervision, sometimes they are indispensable, to correct bad habits.